Wolves defender Ronald Zubar has admitted his relief after securing a point against Stoke City on Sunday.

The Frenchman says he has never experienced a game of that nature before but thinks the team defended very well.

He said: “I’ve never played in a game like that before, I couldn’t believe it! But Stoke do well and I have nothing bad to say about them at all. They work very hard and they do very well with that way of playing.

“And they have got 43 points so that shows how hard they are to beat – they can’t be lucky all the time. They score goals from playing that way and it’s very difficult to defend against.

“Rory Delap does very well with those throw-ins – it is more easy to defend a corner than one of his throws. The ball comes in so quickly and it changes direction in their air as well, so it’s very hard for defenders.

“Thankfully, Jody and Christophe did superbly well heading all those balls out. Stoke came to win and it was a real battle, so we were all very happy with a point.”

Defender Ronald Zubar says all the pressure is on Villa ahead of Saturday’s clash between the Midlands clubs.

Villa still have faint hopes of securing a Champions League spot and Zubar says all their recent success like getting to the Carling Cup final puts huge pressure on them to win.

Zubar said: “Villa will be expected to win because they’re at home, so there won’t be any pressure on us. We go to Villa Park trying to do the same things – stay strong on the pitch and stay in the game.

“They’re a good team – they’ve just played in the Carling Cup final and are seventh in the table. Villa is another difficult one, but we’ve been doing well away from home.

“It’s a special game because it’s a derby. When we played at home it was a very tough game and we managed to draw. After a point against Stoke they will be wanting to beat us.

“But we have a good feeling after Burnley and will be ready to battle again for 90 or 95 minutes. We have to try to keep a clean sheet and take our chances when we create them.”

Zubar admits that despite the success at Burnley on Saturday Wolves have to get on with the next game.

He added: “It was a good performance but we still have more to do. It was an important win, because for the last couple of months we’d played very well and had created chances to score.

“We have to keep it going, because we’ve got nine more big games to come. We need to keep it going and stay solid. Everyone is working on the defensive side from the front players back to the defence and goalkeeper, chasing the ball and doing what they can.

“We all want to keep playing like we have been doing for the last couple of months.”

*Daniel Jones has had his loan deal at Bristol Rovers extended until the end fo the season.

My verdict: Zubar is right but I don’t think even the most loyal of Wolves fans can expect us to take much from Saturday. Villa have really pacey wingers (something that we really don’t have in our defence) so that will cause us problems.

Good move for Jones. He won’t be involved with Wolves for the remainder of the season and I expect him to be released in the summer.